Letters to the Editor: April 29

Apr. 28, 2013 - 01:03PM
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Keep 6-day delivery

I must disagree with the editorial on the U.S. Postal Service and its push to end Saturday delivery [“On wasteful spending, Congress is the problem,” April 15].

While the postmaster general has said this would save $2 [billion], independent auditors have said the savings would not be that great and would be more than offset by the loss of business as mailers and shippers find other ways of sending information.

Even though the proposal would continue Saturday parcel delivery, the regular carrier will not be the one making deliveries, which means the chance for misdelivery and stolen or lost items increases.

Finally, while polls appear to show a 70 percent approval rating for five-day delivery, the question is almost always posed as saving the government money. When people are made aware of the fact that USPS gets no federal money, the percentage of approval drops.

— Edward G. Thomas, Baltimore, Ohio

Congress must act

Eighty percent of U.S. Postal Service red ink is from the unfair mandate forcing pre-funding of retiree health benefits for people who are not even hired yet. No other government entity or private enterprise has to meet this requirement. Why hasn’t Congress acted to alleviate this situation? This would certainly be more amenable than eliminating Saturday mail deliveries.

Postal parcel rates have improved. Legislation should be enacted to protect this competitive advantage from companies that grab off lucrative, easy areas and leave the less profitable rural areas for the Postal Service.

Even with the advent of electronic communication, USPS is vital to our communication, commerce and national security.